Roll support



Oct. 3, 1967 T. w. MARTIN, SR 3,345,011

ROLL SUPPORT Filed April 29, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS THOMAS W. MARTIN'S)? Oct. 3, 1967 T. w. MARTIN, SR

ROLL SUPPORT Filed April 29, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORZ THOMAS WMARTIN SR.

Oct. 3, 1967 T. w. MARTIN, SR

ROLL SUPPORT 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 29, 1966 INVENTOR THO/ms WMfiKf/Ad -52. W 4. 44

ATTORNEY United States Patent ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A pair of parallel rotatable roll support members adapted to support a roll for rotatable movement, a

. platform member having a low-friction surface constrained to reciprocable movement between the roll support members and toward and away from the roll, and means for elevating the platform member to move the roll to a disengaged position from the roll support members for slidable movement on the platform member longitudinally of the roll support members.

This invention relates to a roll support, and more particularly to a roll support including means facilitating loading the roll upon the support.

In devices for supporting rolls, such as devices supporting rolls of web material for feeding or unwinding the web material, the roll is usually supported upon a pair of elongated, spaced, parallel support members, such as rollers. In some such web roll supporting devices, the rollers are driven to feed the web from the roll. In other such devices, the rollers may be idlers, while the web is withdrawn by pulling the web with other rollers or pulling mechanisms. In either type of device, and particuarly where the web rolls are heavy and the surfaces of the supporting rollers are of highly frictional material, there is usually a problem in loading the rolls upon the supporting rollers. This problem occurs frequently on cloth spreading machines where parallel cloth feed rollers support a cloth roll for unwinding and spreading upon a table. In cloth spreading machines which are usually operated by one or two men, it is desirable to load as large a roll of cloth upon the spreading machine as possible in order to minimize stoppages and downtime for re-loading the machine. Moreover, the size and competitiveness of the operation does not warrant the cost of expensive powerdriven, cloth roll handling equipment, such as overhead cranes, for loading the rolls upon the spreading machine.

Where web rolls, such as cloth rolls, are loaded endwise over the supporting members or rollers, considerable resistance to the endwise sliding movement of the roll over the rollers is encountered because of the weight of the roll and the frictional surfaces of the roll and rollers. If the web is cloth, then the cloth may become wrinkled or torn. If the roll is loaded laterally upon the supporting members or rollers, endwise movement of the roll is practically always required in order to properly position the roll upon the supporting members. In either manner of loading, manual lifting of the heavy roll is necessary to effect proper endwise movement Without damaging or wrinkling the web, or without disaligning the edges of the web in the roll.

More specifically, this invention is an improvement upon the cloth feed roll support means disclosed in the pending application of Thomas W. Martin, Sr., et al., S.N. 540,026 for Cloth Spreading Machine.

One object of this invention is to provide a device for supporting a roll or cylinder having an auxiliary movable support to facilitate the loading of the roll.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device for supporting a roll including a pair of parellel roll support members and a platform member mounted be- 3,345,0'1 l Patented Oct. 3, 1967 tween said support members for reciprocable movement to lower and raise the roll into and out of engagement with the roll support members.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device supporting a roll including a pair of parallel roll supporting members and a relatively low-friction platform movable into and out of engagement with the roll to facilitate slidably shifting the roll on the supporting device.

Another object of this invention is to provide a cloth roll support having a pair of parallel cloth feed rollers, a stationary standard at one end and a pivotal standard at the other end for engaging the ends of the roll, and a vertically shiftable platform between the feed rollers and operatively connected to the movable standard, whereby moving the standard to an inoperative position will simultaneously raise the platform to engage and lift the cloth roll out of engagement with cloth feed rollers to facilitate loading the roll.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of one form of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a section taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary section taken along the line 33 of FIG. 2, with parts broken away;

FIG. 4 is a right-end elevational view of the device disclosed in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a section taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a section taken along the line 6-6 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 7 is a section taken along the line 77 of FIG. 2, and showing the platform in its inoperative position in solid lines and in its operative position in phantom.

Referring now to the drawings in more detail, the invention is shown specifically in the environment of a cloth spreading machine such as that disclosed in the patent application of Thomas W. Martin, Sr., et al., S.N. 540,- 026, filed April 4, 1966, having a cloth roll support frame 10. Mounted in the frame 10 are a pair of cloth feed rollers 11 and 12 having roller shafts 13 and 14, respectively. The disclosure of the rollers 11 and 12 as pairs of short roller sections is merely a constructional feature to improve the supporting ability of the rollers over long spans, and is irrelevant to the invention. The rollers 11 and 12 are mounted parallel to each other longitudinally of the frame 10, and transversely of the direction of web unwinding. Moreover, the rollers 11 and 12 are spaced apart slightly to support the cloth roll 15, as best disclosed in FIGS. 1 and 4. Moreover, the spacing between the feed rollers 11 and 12 is less than the diameter of the core 16 of the cloth roll 15 so that the feed rollers 11 and 12 will continue to support the roll 15 even after the cloth has been completely unwound from the core 16. On the other hand, the spacing between the cloth feed rollers 11 and 12 is sufficient to provide stability and support for the cloth roll 15 as it is being rotated upon the rollers 11 and 12.

As disclosed in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cloth rollers 11 and 12 are driven in the same direction by a drive shaft 18, driven by any suitable motor means, not shown. Fixed to the left end of the drive shaft 18 are a pair of drive sprockets 19 and 20 carrying chains 21 and 22 respectively, for driving the driven sprockets 23 and 24- mounted on the left ends of the roller shafts 13 and 14, respectively.

It will be understood, of course, that even though the rollers 11 and 12 are disclosed as driven feed rollers, they may be idlers, insofar as pertinent to this invention.

As viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2, fixed on the left end of the frame 10 is an upright standard 27 having a vertical slot or guideway 28 for receiving a left spindle support 29 for vertical movement. Carried by the left spindle support 29 is a left spindle 30 and conical bearing 31 for engaging the open left end of the core 16 of the cloth roll 15.

A similar standard 37 is pivotally mounted on the right end of the frame 10 and retained in upright position by the latch 35 pivotally mounted on frame 10. The standard 37 is also provided with an elongated vertical slot or guideway 38 receiving the right spindle support 39 for vertical reciprocable movement. The spindle support 39 carries a right spindle 40 and right conical bearing 41 for insertion into the right open end of the core 16. The bottom of the upright standard 37 is journalled about hinge rod 42 supported by the right end of the frame 10.

The parts thus far described have been previously disclosed in the pending application of Thomas W. Martin, Sr., et al., S.N. 540,026, filed April 4, 1966, for Cloth Spreading Machine.

The improvement in the cloth roll support constituting this invention comprises a platform member 45, shown in the drawings as an elongated inverted channel-shaped member or bar having a smooth upper surface with a minimal coefficient of friction. The platform member 45 extends substantially the full length of, between and parallel to the rollers 11 and 12. Mounted on the left end of the platform member 45 are a pair of guide rollers 47 and 48. The guide rollers 47 and 48 are mounted to ride vertically along the left tracks or guideways 49 and 50, respectively. In a similar manner the right end of the platform.

member 45 includes a pair of guide rollers 51 and 52 mounted to rollably engage the right vertical guideways or tracks 53 annd 54. In this manner, the platform member 45 is constrained to reciprocably move up and down in a vertical plane between the support rollers 11 and 12. The tracks 49 and 50, 53 and 54 extend upwardly sufliciently to permit the platform member 45 to engage and lift the cloth roll 15 above and out of contact with the feed rollers 11 and 12. Examples of the upper limit of the platform 45 are disclosed in phantom in FIGS. 2 and 7. The inoperative position of the platform member 45 is disclosed in solid lines in all the drawings.

In order to reciprocably move the platform member 45, an elongated slide bar or plate 55 is mounted parallel to and immediately below the platform member 45 upon a pair of elongated tubular guide rods 56 and 57. The slide bar 55 is maintained in slidable engagement with the guide rods 56 and 57 by means of a plurality of retainer plates 59 supported beneath the rods 56 and 57 by means of bolt members 60 connecting the plates 59 with the slide bar 55.

The platform member 45 and the slide bar 55 are connected by means of one or more link bars 62. The upper end of each link bar 62 is connected by a pivot pin 63 to a block 64 fixed to the platform member 45. The other or lower end of each link bar 62 is pivotally connected by the pivot pin 65 to a block 66 fixed to the top of the slide bar 55.

Connected to the right end of the slide bar 55 by means of block 68 and pivot pin 69 is a connector bar 70, which is in turn pivotally connected by pin 71 to lever arm 72 fixed to the lower portion of the right standard 37. Thus, with the right standard 37 in its upright operative position disclosed in solid lines in FIG. 2, the slide bar 55 is in its extreme left inoperative position and platform member 45 is in its extreme lowermost inoperative position disclosed in solid lines. However, when the right standard 37 is pivoted away from the cloth roll 15 toward the right, as viewed in FIG. 2, about the hinge pin 42, to an inoperative position as shown in dashed lines in FIG. 2, the lever arm 72 is rotated in a clockwise direction, as disclosed by the arrow, to pull the connector bar and the slide bar 55 toward the right of the frame 10. This longitudinal horizontal movement of the slide bar 55 causes the link bars 62 to thrust the platform member 45 upwardly along the tracks 49, 50, 53 and 54 until the platform member 45 has reached its upper operative position, such as that disclosed in phantom in FIGS. 2 and 7. Reverse movement of the right standard 37 to its upright position, will reverse the movements of the connector bar 70, slide bar 55, link bar 62 and platform member 45. In other words, the slide bar 55 will be returned to its original left, inoperative position, pivoting the link bars 62 to lower the platform member 45.

It will be observed in the drawings that the surface of the front cloth feed or support roller 11 is disclosed as a layer of hard rubber, which has a relatively high frictional surface. Although the drawings show the rear cloth support roller 12 as having a steel surface, nevertheless, one or both the cloth supporting rollers preferably have a sufficient frictional surface to firmly engage the web material of the roll 15 so that the roll does not slip upon the supporting rollers as the web, such as cloth, is unwound from the roll 15. This frictional surface of the rollers, which is desirable for unwinding the cloth, is also undesirable from the standpoint of loading the roll endwise over the rollers 11 and 12. It is for this reason that the platform member 45 has as smooth or low-friction surface as possible to permit sliding of the roll lengthwise of the platform member 45.

The operation of the invention will now become apparent. Assuming that the frame 10 is supported transversely upon a cloth spreading machine with the cloth roll supporting device unloaded, and the machine stopped, the operator first pulls the right standard 37 to the right about its hinge pin 42 until it is rotated approximately to an inoperative position. The platform member 45 is then in its raised operative position disclosed in phantom in FIGS. 2 and 7. A new cloth roll 15 is lifted manually either by one or two men and placed lengthwise upon the platform member 45. In this operative position, the cloth roll 15 does not touch or engage either of the cloth feed or support rollers 11 and 12. Consequently, because of the smooth upper surface and also the narrow width of the platform member 45, the roll 15 is thrust endwise slidably over the platform member 45 until the left or remote end of the core 16 of the roll engages the left spindle 30 and conical bearing 31. With the cloth roll 15 thus properly positioned upon the conical bearing 31, the right standard 37 is then raised about the hinge pin 42 until the right conical bearing and spindle 40 are inserted into the right open end of the core 16.

The spindle supports 29 and 39 are supported in the guideways 27 annd 37 for vertical movement in order to be properly aligned with the core 16 at corresponding elevations during the loading of the roll 15 and unwinding of the web from the roll 15. As the standard 37 is swung upward to its operative position, the slide bar 55 is forced longitudinally and horizontally toward the left of the frame 10, and simultaneously lowers the platform member 45 and the cloth feed roll 15, until the bottom of the cloth feed roll engages the supporting rollers 11 and 12. The platform member 45 will continue to descend to its inoperative solid-line position, completely disengaging the cloth roll 15.

It will be understood, of course, that the platform 45 and its elevating mechanism can be employed with any type of roll 15 whether it is a cloth roll, or other type of web roll, such as paper, foil or sheet metal, or even a cylinder, such as a drum which must be loaded endwise over a pair of elongated supporting members.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is shown in the drawings and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for supporting a roll comprising:

(a) a frame,

(b) a pair of roll support members, each support member having a rotational axis parallel to the other rotational axis,

() means mounting said support members in said frame for rotatable movement about said axes,

(d) said support members being spaced apart to define a roll station in which a roll engages said support members parallel to said axes,

(e) at least one of said support members having a high-friction surface sufficient to rotate said roll engaging said one support member, as said one support member rotates,

(f) a platform member comprising a low-friction surface having a coeflicient of friction substantially less than the coefficient of friction of said high-friction surface, to permit relative slidable movement of said roll on said low-friction surface when said platform member engages said roll,

g) means mounting said platform member on said frame and constraining said platform member to reciprocable movement in a direction substantially normal to the plane of said rotational axes and between said support members, and

(h) means connected to said platform member to move said platform member in said direction away from said roll station to an inoperative position in which said platform member disengages said roll while said roll engages said support members in said roll station, and to move said platform member in said direction toward said roll station and to an operative position displaced from said roll station in which said low-friction surface engages said roll and said roll disengages said support members.

2. The invention according to claim 1 in which said roll support members comprise rollers.

3. The invention according to claim 1 further comprising first and second roll supporting standards, said first standard fixed to said frame for engaging one end of the roll in said roll station, means pivotally connecting said second standard to said frame for swinging movement between an upright operative position engaging the opposite end of the roll in said roll station and an inoperative position away from said opposite end of the roll, said platform moving means being connected to said second standard so that as said second standard moves from its upright position away from the opposite end of said roll, said platform member is simultaneously moved from its inoperative position to its operative position.

4. The invention according to claim 1 in which the means to reciprocably move said platform member comprises an elongated slide bar, means mounting said slide bar for reciprocable movement parallel to said support members, link means connecting said slide bar to said platform member for simultaneous reciprocable movement of said platform member and said slide bar, means for reciprocably moving said slide bar, and guide means on said frame receiving said platform member to constrain the movement of said platform member to said reciprocable direction.

5. The invention according to claim 4 in which said link means comprises at least one link bar having first and second ends, first means pivotally connecting said first end to said platform member and second means pivotally connecting said second end to said slide bar for pivotal movement in the common reciprocable plane of said platform member and said slide bar.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,578,264 12/1951 Raymick 2548 3,150,706 9/1964 OBrien 242-79 2,175,755 10/1939 Matteson 242-79 3,145,862 8/1964 Cooper 242-- X LEONARD D. CHRISTIAN, Primary Examiner. 

1. A DEVICE FOR SUPPORTING A ROLL COMPRISING: (A) A FRAME, (B) A PAIR OF ROLL SUPPORT MEMBERS, EACH SUPPORT MEMBER HAVING A ROTATIONAL AXIS PARALLEL TO THE OTHER ROTATIONAL AXIS, (C) MEANS MOUNTING SAID SUPPORT MEMBERS IN SAID FRAME FOR ROTATABLE MOVEMENT ABOUT SAID AXES, (D) SAID SUPPORT MEMBERS BEING SPACED APART TO DEFINE A ROLL STATION IN WHICH A ROLL ENGAGES SAID SUPPORT MEMBERS PARALLEL TO SAID AXES, (E) AT LEAST ONE OF SAID SUPPORT MEMBERS HAVING A HIGH-FRICTION SURFACE SUFFICIENT TO ROTATE SAID ROLL ENGAGING SAID ONE SUPPORT MEMBER, AS SAID ONE SUPPORT MEMBER ROTATES, (F) A PLATFORM MEMBER COMPRISING A LOW-FRICTION SURFACE HAVING A COEFFICIENT OF FRICTION SUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN THE COEFFICIENT OF FRICTION OF SAID HIGH-FRICTION SURFACE, TO PERMIT RELATIVE SLIDABLE MOVEMENT OF SAID ROLL ON SAID LOW-FRICTION SURFACE WHEN SAID PLATFORM MEMBER ENGAGES SAID ROLL, (G) MEANS MOUNTING SAID PLATFORM MEMBER ON SAID FRAME AND CONSTRAINING SAID PLATFORM MEMBER TO RECIPROCABLE MOVEMENT IN A DIRECTION SUBSTANTIALLY NORMAL TO THE PLANE OF SAID ROTATIONAL AXES AND BETWEEN SAID SUPPORT MEMBERS, AND (H) MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID PLATFORM MEMBER TO MOVE SAID PLATFORM MEMBER IN SAID DIRECTION AWAY FROM SAID ROLL STATION TO AN INOPERATIVE POSITION IN WHICH SAID PLATFORM MEMBER DISENGAGES SAID ROLL WHILE SAID ROLL ENGAGES SAID SUPPORT MEMBERS IN SAID ROLL STATION, AND TO MOVE SAID PLATFORM MEMBER IN SAID DIRECTION TOWARD SAID ROLL STATION AND TO AN OPERATIVE POSITION DISPLACED FROM SAID ROLL STATION IN WHICH SAID LOW-FRICTION SURFACE ENGAGES SAID ROLL AND SAID ROLL DISENGAGES SAID SUPPORT MEMBERS. 